Passenger’s Vaping Incident on Alaska Airlines Flight Sparks Pilot’s Warning

A recent incident on Alaska Airlines Flight 1340 from Los Angeles to Cancun, Mexico, involved a passenger vaping in the aircraft's lavatory. The situation became worse after the pilot broadcast an announcement about the rule-breaking behaviour. A "lady" passenger vaped inside the lavatory because of her stress, according to an earful a flight attendant relayed to the "r/AlaskaAirlines" forum on Reddit. The pilot warned about the smoke alarm activation in the bathroom. The Federal law bans all smoking, vaping, and tobacco chewing activities for this particular flight.

The pilot warned the passengers that repeated smoking offenses would lead to a return flight to the departure airport. The witness who posted on Reddit left the restroom and then took their seat while shaking their head to prove their absence before others.

Various passengers who commented on the online post reacted differently to this incident. Two Reddit users maintained different perspectives on the situation by stating,

“That’s risky because smoking on an aircraft is illegal,” and “Being arrested for this normally happens only if other serious activities occur alongside it.” The violation remains within federal aviation jurisdiction but leads to FAA infractions.

A Redditor proposed, "A smoking or vaping solution for passengers would be a Zyn device or a nicotine patch." The user report for smoking and vaping sessions becomes available through flight attendant work devices and allows real-time submission to the system. IATA prohibits passengers from using electronic smoking devices because FAA regulations apply to these products. These products replicate cigarette-like activity, thus remaining unlawful throughout American flight operations. Travel expert Gary Leff from Texas published his thoughts about vaping stigma on his blog.

"View From The Wing." Vapers face misunderstandings from passengers who perceive their devices as cigarette activities, while the vaper does not smoke, according to them. The FAA regulations stipulate smoking restrictions that incorporate e-cigarettes as smoking devices, although these devices were not included in the original legislation.

Leff stated that banning vapour is not the core objective behind the regulations. According to the regulation, all e-cigarettes fall under the same prohibitive scope as actions against cigarettes. The flying ban on smoking remains active, yet planes continue to have ashtrays positioned near their bathrooms because of their historical use for flight passengers to smoke before the ban occurred. Customers will frequently smoke illegally by using the restroom area, according to Leff.